Jaipur, Dec 17 Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje kept her hand on the head of newly elected CM Bhajanlal Sharma on Friday which is being discussed widely in political circles.
After taking the oath of secrecy, Bhajan Lal Sharma reached the Secretariat on Friday along with many Union ministers and BJP state president CP Joshi and former CM Vasundhara Raje to take charge.
After assuming charge, Bhajanlal offered sweets to Vasundhara Raje, while Vasundhara blessed Bhajanlal by placing her hand on his head.
Why did Vasundhara, who till the 11th hour, was trying to be the CM face, place her hand on Sharma’s head? Did she do it voluntarily or under pressure from the high command? Has she accepted the fact that the high command did not want her to take over as the CM?
These are the questions being raised in Rajasthan's political circles after the oath taking ceremony.
Party sources said that placing her hand on the new CM's head has many political messages. Earlier, it was Vasundhara Raje who had announced Bhajanlal's name in the legislature party meeting in the presence of Union minister Rajnath Singh and other observers who were sent to Jaipur for finalising the CM's name.
There was animated discussion in a meeting that day regarding the body language of Vasundhara Raje. Pictures of her stunned face after opening a chit with Sharma’s name as CM went viral.
However, later on, Raje actively participated in all events, right from Bhajanlal Sharma's swearing in till his taking charge, with her body language changed.
Party sources said that an attempt was made to change the narrative.
Earlier, many MLAs visited Vasundhara Raje's residence after the election results were announced. This was seen as a show of strength, but later an effort was made to change that perception.
Political analysts believe that the BJP leadership wanted the consent of senior leaders to appoint Bhajanlal Sharma as the chief minister and this is being considered as a step in this direction.
Before the elections there were around 10 names doing the rounds as CM probables. No leader called himself a contender but was making a claim through supporters. The BJP high command, brushing aside all the contenders, made newcomer Bhajanlal Sharma the CM.
Ever since the results were announced till the time the chief minister was decided, many incidents sent out the message about internal divisions in the party. BJP strategists believed that this perception could cause harm in the future, hence damage control started.
The central leadership directed the state leaders to be present when the new CM assumed charge and hence all the leaders marked their presence in the CMO and presented a united front.
According to political analysts, the BJP is now busy in projecting the Lok Sabha elections according to the results of the assembly elections. About five months are left for the parliamentary elections.
The Lok Sabha elections will be the litmus test for new CM Bhajanlal. If the results of the assembly elections are seen in terms of Lok Sabha seats, the party has put up a poor performance in Shekhawati, Vagad and Nahri areas.
Now, along with the preparations for the Lok Sabha elections, the party also has to change the local political equations in its favour, hence it was considered necessary for prominent leaders to come together at the local level for showing unity.
The BJP high command is continuously seeking reports regarding Rajasthan. In view of the changed situation after the assembly elections, the developments here are being closely monitored.
The goal is to get 25 Lok Sabha seats into the BJP kitty.
The party has already managed social engineering by appointing two deputy CMs, Diya Kumari and Premchand Bairwa.
Bairwa and Diya Kumari also took charge on Friday after the oath taking ceremony. While taking charge, Deputy CM Diya Kumari touched the feet of former CM Vasundhara Raje and took her blessings.
This is seen as passing the baton to a new generation.
While pictures of the happy BJP family are going viral on social media, there were silent discussions about a united colour picture of the Congress government too which was shared in 2018 soon after it came to power.
The picture of Rahul Gandhi with Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot was posted by the Congress with a tagline 'United colors of Congress' which also went viral.
However, in the next five years, a tug of war continued between two camps in the Congress which led to its defeat, both in the Lok Sabha and in the recent assembly polls.
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